Bear is quite sure he doesn’t like visitors. He even has a sign. So when a mouse taps on his door one day, Bear tells him to leave. But when Bear goes to the cupboard to get a bowl, there is the mouse — small and gray and bright-eyed. In this slapstick tale that begs to be read aloud, all Bear wants is to eat his breakfast in peace, but the mouse — who keeps popping up in the most unexpected places — just won’t go away! Cheery persistence wears down a curmudgeonly bear in a wry comedy of manners that ends in a most unlikely friendship.

From the committee:“We loved this book for its sweet, entertaining story, and for the timeless appeal of the writing and illustrations.”

***

The 2009 E.B. White Read-Aloud Honors for Picture Book

Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken
by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Harry Bliss
HarperCollins / 978-0060755546

Marvin lives with his family under the kitchen sink in the Pompadays’ apartment. He is very much a beetle. James lives with his family in New York City. He is very much an eleven year-old boy. After James gets a pen and ink set for his birthday, Marvin surprises him by creating an elaborate miniature drawing. Before they know it, the unlikely friends are caught up in an art heist that is sure to become one of the classic adventures of children’s books for many years to come.

From the committee: We loved this book for its well-structured plot and the classic feel of a great caper. We also felt that the illustrations really worked with the text to enhance the story.

When Dinosaurs Came With Everything
By Elise Broach, illustrated by David Small
Simon & Schuster (HC) $16.99
978-0689869228

Get a WHAT!? Free WHAT!? Just when a little boy thinks he’s going to die of boredom, the most stupendous thing happens. He discovers that on this day, and this day only, stores everywhere are giving away a dinosaur with any purchase. It’s a dream come true, except…what exactly do you do with these Jurassic treats? And how do you convince Mom to let you keep them? (4-8)

Elise Broach lives with her family in rural Connecticut, where she writes books for children and teens, and serves in town government. As a child she made many journeys to the dinosaur hall at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and she returns often with her own children and her husband, who is a biologist there.

David Small is the Caldecott Award-winning illustrator of So You Want to Be President? by Judith St. George. He also received a Caldecott Honor medal for The Gardener by Sarah Stewart. He lives in Michigan with his wife, Sarah Stewart.

ARE YOU A GIFTED CHILD LOOKING FOR SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES? Dozens of children respond to this peculiar ad in the newspaper, and take the mysterious test. Only four children—Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance—succeed. When they are sent on a secret undercover mission to the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened it will take all of their wit, intelligence, and special abilities to spoil the nefarious plot. An instant classic! (9-12)

Trenton Lee Stewart is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and the author of the adult novel Flood Summer. He lives in Arkansas with his wife and two sons. This is his debut children’s novel. A sequel, The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey published in 2008. Fans of the series can uncover more at The Curiosity Chronicle.

Catina wants to be a famous writer. Houndsley is an excellent cook. Catina thinks Houndsley is a wonder. Houndsley thinks Catina is a very good friend. James Howe’s funny and endearing world of ginger tea, no-bean chili, and firefly watching is brought to life in cozy watercolors by Marie-Louise Gay in this tender chapter book about what it means to be friends. (5-8)

James Howe is the acclaimed author of more than seventy books for young readers, including the much-lauded Bunnicula and its sequels.

Marie-Lousie Gay is the author and illustrator of many award-winning books, including the Stella and Sam series.

For as long as ten-year-old Moon can remember, he has lived out in the forest in a shelter with his father. They keep to themselves, their only contact with other human beings an occasional trip to the nearest general store. When Moon’s father dies, Moon follows his father’s last instructions: to travel to Alaska to find others like themselves. But Moon is soon caught and entangled in a world he doesn’t know or understand, apparent property of the government he has been avoiding all his life. Can he adapt his wilderness survival skills and learns to survive in the outside world on his own terms? (10+)

Watt Key lives in southern Alabama with his family. Alabama Moon is his first book.

“If I built a car, it’d be totally new! Here are a few of the things that I’d do. . . .” Young Jack is giving an eye-opening tour of the car he’d like to build. There’s a snack bar, a pool, and even a robot chauffeur named Robert. With Jack’s soaring imagination in the driver’s seat, readers are off on a wild and wacky ride of imagination! (4-8)

Chris Van Dusen’s interest in art began at a young age when his mother gave him and his four brothers pencils and paper to keep them busy. After high school, Chris pursued his interest in art by studying painting and illustration at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, graduating in 1982 with a BFA. He is also the author of Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee, and A Camping Spree with Mr. McGee, and the illustrator of the Mercy Watson books. In his spare time, Chris likes to hike and bike all over the Maine coast with his family.

Ten-year-old Comfort Snowberger has attended 247 funerals. But that’s not surprising, considering that her family runs the town funeral home. Comfort knows how to deal with loss, or so she thinks, but life is full of surprises, and the biggest one of all is learning about yourself. This is a warm and charming look at family, love, and life in all its “messy glory”! (9-12)

Deborah Wiles is the award-winning author of Love, Ruby Lavender, and The Aurora County All-Stars. Ms. Wiles is the recipient of the 2004 PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship. Each Little Bird That Sings was a 2005 National Book Award Finalist. Deborah Wiles lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Wild About Books
By Judy Sierra and illustrated by Marc Brown
Random House (HC) $16.95
978-0375825385

Wild About Books is a rollicking rhymed story of Molly the librarian who accidentally drives her bookmobile to the zoo and introduces the birds and beasts to a new something called reading. Molly finds the perfect book for each animal — tall books for giraffes, small books for crickets, joke books for hyenas – and has them going “wild, simply wild, about wonderful books.” Wild About Books combines clever prose with laugh-out-loud book selections for the animals. (4-8)

Judy Sierra is renowned for her funny and brief retellings of folktales, most recently in the delightful collection of Silly and Sillier. Equally adept at rhyme, she wrote a collection of amusing poems about penguins, Antarctic Antics, which was a bestseller. Ms. Sierra devotes considerable time to storytelling and reading to children at schools and libraries, endeavors that help her know exactly what makes children laugh. Judy lives in Castro Valley, California.

Marc Brown is best known as the author and illustrator who created the beloved aardvark Arthur. As a child, Marc Brown’s passion for drawing was encouraged by his grandmother Thora, who saved his artwork in the bottom drawer of her bureau. His grandmother later provided an education fund that helped Brown pay for art school. He attended the Cleveland Institute of Art from 1964 to 1969. Marc Brown lives with his wife Laurie and their young daughter, Eliza, and he has two grown sons, Tolon and Tucker.

Unique, quirky and memorable, SkippyJon Jones is chock-full of rhyme and rhythm. A Siamese kitten, who imagines himself to be a Chihuahua and a sword fighter – anything except an ordinary cat – is the star of this book. The story takes young readers on a wild ride in which they can’t help but join along with sing-along songs and chants. Peppered with Spanish expressions and full of energized fun, SkippyJon Jones is not only entertaining for the listener, it’s also enjoyable for the reader. (4-8)

Judith Byron Schachner has been illustrating and writing children’s books since 1992. She has illustrated many of her own stories as well as those written by others. Her artwork has been called “absolutely delightful” by School Library Journal. In 1999, her book Mr. Emerson’s Cook was among the Carolyn Field Notable Books.